Stocks rose modestly Tuesday, extending a recent rally and hitting new 2009 highs, after reports showed that U.S. consumer confidence and home prices are beginning to recover. News that President Barack Obama is nominating Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term also helped stocks. Stocks hit the highs of the session just after the mid-morning release of the Conference Board's consumer-confidence index, which rose more than expected to 54.1 in August from 47.4 the previous month. U.S. home prices rose 2.9 percent in the second quarter, the first quarterly rise in three years and a possible signal that the housing market has stabilized, according to a second private report. Apart from Obama's nomination of Bernanke to serve a second term as central-bank chief, markets reacted to deficit forecasts from the White House and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The White House forecast a federal budget deficit of $9 trillion over the next decade and a deficit of $1.58 trillion in 2009. The $9 trillion is $2 trillion more than the White House had forecast previously. The CBO said it expects the 2009 deficit to reach $1.6 trillion. --MORE
